Growing concerns over the shrinking space for civic rights exercise in Bangladesh, VOICE, a research-based advocacy organisation, has released a new media monitoring report documenting widespread events and the spread of gender disinformation.
The dissemination event was held today at Kawran Bazar in the capital.
Notable journalists, civil society representatives, law practitioners, and academics were present at the event. During a panel discussion, speakers expressed grave concern over the rising tide of mob violence, farcical cases filed against journalists, and the harassment of writers and poets for their free expression.
Udisa Islam, City Editor, Bangla Tribune, S.M. Monjur Rashid, Senior Advisor, Communications, Social Protection Policy Support (SPPS) Programme, UNDP, Rezaur Rahman Lenin, Independent Researcher and Human Rights activist, and Mahpara Alam, Researcher, Fellow, One Future Network, South Asia spoke as panelists at the occasion.
“We must ensure judicial independence and uphold due process in all cases involving journalists and human rights defenders. Without strong accountability mechanisms to bring perpetrators to justice, the culture of impunity will only deepen,” said Udisa Islam. She stressed on raising collective voice to stop the filing of murder cases, often implicating 300-500 unnamed individuals including journalists. These lawsuits are being used as a tactic to intimidate and suppress, she said.
Describing the report as evidence of the increasingly restricted civic space in the country, Rezaur Rahman Lenin emphasized that its findings, analysis, and recommendations should be presented to policymakers to prompt concrete action.
Regarding gender disinformation, Mahpara Alam emphasized the importance of for strategic partnerships from the state level with major tech platforms, like, Facebook, TikTok etc. to ensure prompt identification and removal of harmful or objectionable content that is specifically humiliating for some communities due to their gender identity, class, caste or culture.
Monjur Rashid highlighted that while digitization offers both benefits and risks, it`s important to reflect on the kind of digital environment being shaped for future generations. He stressed the need to break the lingering culture of silence in society in order to effectively address violations in digital and civic spaces.
The report draws on incidents tracked through monitoring leading newspapers, television, and their social media platforms, highlighting numerous cases of violence against journalists and human rights defenders. These cases collectively point to an alarming erosion of the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, expression, assembly, association and so forth.
Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, Executive Director, VOICE said: “To promote civic participation, it is crucial that we recognise gender disinformation and online gender-based violence as serious threats for women’s participation in public spaces. We need laws aligned with international human rights standards and a nationwide push to expand digital literacy and civic education, especially at the grassroots level.”
